These Hard Times
by gypsywriter135
Summary: In which Bolin can't sleep well, Mako doesn't want him to worry, and both of them discuss money during the late hours of the night.


The past two eppys of Korra have given me brother feels. So I wrote a thing.

I tried to use a different type of writing style, because I thought that it would be fun and I wanted to branch out a little from my normal style. Let me know how I did!

This takes place between episode 3 and 4.

**Disclaimer: Bryke owns all.**

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Bolin awakes with a start, snapping up in bed with a gasp. When he glances around the familiar room and realizes that he's home, he relaxes, green eyes drifting over to his brother's bed.

Empty.

The earthbender sighs, scrubbing at his eyes and swings his legs over the side of the bed, standing. He stretches and pops his back before pulling on a t-shirt and heading to the door. Sure enough, there is a light from the living room sneaking down the hall and Bolin wastes no time in trudging towards it.

When he reaches the living room, he sees the common sight of his brother sitting on the couch, hunched over several papers strewn across the small table in front of him. Mako has a pencil in one hand, the other pulling at his hair in frustration.

He glances up at the sound of Bolin's quiet footsteps and frowns.

"Hey," he greets as Bolin flops on the couch next to the firebender. "I thought you went to bed…"

"So did I," Bolin murmurs quietly, glancing away.

It's Mako's turn to sigh. "Nightmares?"

"If that's what you want to call them."

"Amon?"

"No. I dream of purple unicorns flying through the sky with pink dolphins and rainbows and butterflies." Bolin knows that he's being grouchy, but lack of sleep could do that to a guy. Still, it's worth the small, amused snort that Mako gives him.

"You might want to get your head checked, Bo."

"That's what I have you for, eh?" Bolin gives his brother a small smile.

Mako rolls his eyes and reaches over to ruffle Bolin's hair as he stands. He smirks when Bolin half-heartedly swats his hand away. "I'll make us some tea," he says and walks the short distance to their small kitchen, disappearing around the corner. Bolin can hear Mako rustling around for their teakettle, pots and pans clinking as he slumps more in his seat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

The comfort of his brother's movements calms his still active mind and he feels himself relax the rest of the way. He only opens his eyes when he feels Mako nudge his foot gently a short time later.

Bolin sits up and takes the chipped mug – the better of the two that they own, he notices – and takes a cautious sip of the scalding liquid. Mako takes back his previous seat, sitting with his back against the cushions and does the same.

Both brothers let out content sighs.

They sit in silence for a long while, taking small sips of their tea until it's almost gone.

"Better?" Mako is the first to break through the quiet of the night.

"Yeah, thanks," Bolin replies, swallowing the rest of his tea with one giant gulp. Mako nods as the younger man sets his mug down on the table. He runs and eye over the papers. "What are you doing up? Don't you have to be at the power plant in a few hours?"

Mako's contented look vanishes and Bolin is instantly sorry; it's not often that he sees that expression on his brother's face. Instead it is replaced with a mixture of sadness, worry, anger, and annoyance.

"Just some number crunching," he murmurs. He follows Bolin's example and drains his mug, placing non-to-gently on the table and hurriedly tries to organize the papers into a semblance of order.

"For what?" Bolin asks, instantly curious.

"Nothing."

"Oh, come on, Mako," Bolin whines. "What're you doing?"

Mako's face get's that guarded look that Bolin knows all too well, only serving to make the earthbender worry.

"I said it's nothing, Bo," Mako repeats. In his hurry, the pencil he had set aside earlier rolls to the floor. When Mako bends down to pick it up, Bolin snatches the papers from his brother's hands. Mako's head shoots up, glaring at Bolin as he dances out of the elder boy's reach.

"Bolin!" Mako barks.

"Hmm," Bolin thinks aloud, running his eyes over the pages while keeping an eye on his brother as the two do an awkward chase around the living room. They've done this dance many times before; despite Mako being quicker and more agile, he's also very predictable. Bolin will win this game.

"What are these?" he hums, sidestepping as Mako lunges at him.

"Bo, stop!" Mako demands, recovering quickly and making another pass at his brother; he misses.

As the two move around the room, Bolin recognizes the numbers and figures on the page and his stomach drops with dread. He falters in their routine, which Mako takes advantage of and tackles Bolin to the ground. The two wrestle for a moment before Mako manages to pin Bolin on his back. He keeps a knee, gentle but firm, on Bolin's chest as he snaps forward and pries the papers from the earthbender's tight grip. A few pages tear and Mako stands, cursing and straightening his rumpled clothes. Bolin follows suit; this time, it's him who is doing the glaring.

"What are you doing?" he asks in a tone that commands an answer.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," Mako replies evenly, stalking back to the couch as he begins to put the papers into an order.

"Don't play games with me," Bolin snaps, causing Mako to glance up. It's not often that Bolin gets mad. Bolin points an angry, accusing finger at his brother. "You're doing the lottery thing for the Triple Threats, aren't you!"

Mako blinks, eyes narrowed. "Bolin, that's not-"

Bolin doesn't give him a chance to finish. "You get angry at me for 'getting mixed up with them,' as you so put it, but it's perfectly okay when you do it!"

"Bo, these aren't-"

"What else are you doing, Mako? Did you actually go out and join them now? Am I gonna have to worry about you getting involved in their affairs, too?"

Mako's face darkens. "Bolin, enough!" he snarls. "First off, don't you dare accuse me of doing something like that. Second of all, I would never join the Triple Threats; you should know that by now. And lastly, I told you not to worry about it, so you _don't worry about it!_" the last part is hissed through clenched teeth.

Bolin is having none of it, though. "Then what is that?" he points to the papers in Mako's hands. "Sure looks like the lottery!"

"Well it's not!"

"Then what is it?"

"I told you not to worry about it!"

"Which only makes me all the more curious!"

"Just drop it, Bolin!"

"Not until you tell me what it is!"

"It's the money for the tournament, alright!" Mako yells.

Bolin stops, because that was definitely was not what he was expecting.

"What?" he asks, blinking.

Mako sighs and deflates, sitting down on the couch once more. He plays with the end of his scarf and looks away.

"I… I was trying to figure out how we'd get the 30,000 yuans by the end of the week," he explains.

"I thought that since you got that job at the power plant that-"

Mako interrupts him, frowning in disappointment in himself. "It's still not enough. Even with the other winnings from the other Pro-bending matches, if we take out the money for food, the loans we owe Toza and everyone else, and rent, we're still nowhere close to getting even half of the purse…"

Bolin's face turns into a frown. "What about if I got a job, too? That way we'd both have an income and-"

The elder of the two shakes his head and interrupts. "No, you-"

Bolin can feel the irritation building up inside of him. "Mako, we talked about this," he growls. "You agreed to let me help make some money and stop being so controlling!"

"It's not that," Mako tells him, and Bolin's irritation seeps to confusion. It must show on his face because the firebender sighs and leans back on the couch. "Even with both of us working, there's no way that we'd make nearly enough by the end of the week…"

Bolin takes a seat next to Mako, reaching for the papers. Mako watches him silently as he runs an eye over them. "There must be some way…" he mutters.

But Mako shakes his head. "Even if I work overtime and double shifts at the plant, we can't do it. The only way that we're getting into that tournament is if money falls from the sky in the next three days."

There is anger in his brother's voice, but Bolin knows that it's not directed at him. He understands that all Mako wants is to win the tournament so that they can actually have some money for once. They've worked so hard all season, training hours after everyone else, going through waterbenders because they just can't ante up what they need to win the matches, and now it's all been for nothing…

Bolin is disappointed; not in Mako, but in himself. He knows what their financial situation is like, has since that fateful night all those years ago, but he never lifted a finger to help. Mako has always been the one to bring in the money and put food on their plates and clothes on their backs. That's not to say that Bolin never tried to help, but Mako always told him not to worry. Bolin was always well taken care of, even if he never really got what he wanted – and spirits know that Mako always tried regardless – he always got what he needed.

"I'm sorry, Bo."

Mako's quiet apology cuts through Bolin's silent musings and he snaps his head up. Mako is fiddling with his scarf again and is glaring at his lap.

"Mako, no," Bolin says harshly. "Don't do this."

His brother glances at him out of the corner of his eye.

"You did everything you could. I should have helped more. If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry for sitting on my butt while you were actually productive."

Mako opens his mouth to reply, eyes narrowed, but Bolin holds up a hand to silence him.

"Mako, you do so much for me." Bolin takes in his brother's appearance quickly; his hair is messed from neglect the past few days, his eyes have dark circles under them from lack of sleep, and his forehead is creased with a headache that Bolin knows he has. He reaches out and puts a comforting hand on the firebender's knee, squeezing slightly for reassurance. "We do fine with the normal Pro-bending winnings as it is, and you still have that emergency stash of cash under your bed."

"How-"

"Please, bro. You might be light on your feet, but you really need to find better hiding places," Bolin smirks. Mako frowns. "You can keep working at the plant, I'll get a job, and we can start saving up now for the pot for next year."

Mako stares at him, expression unreadable.

"Sound like a plan?" Bolin offers him a smile.

The response he gets is a sigh. "I guess we don't have any other choice."

"That's the spirit!" Bolin full out grins now. Mako rolls his eyes. "I'll go job searching tomorrow after practice."

"If that's the case, then you need to go back to bed." It's Mako's turn to smirk now. "Don't want you falling asleep on the job now, do we?"

An idea strikes Bolin. "Only if you get some sleep too."

Amber eyes narrow. "I have to be at work in a few hours. It's hardly worth the small amount that-"

"Don't need you falling asleep on the job," Bolin retorts. He takes pride in the look on his brother's face as Mako's comment is thrown back in his face. "Come on, Mako. You look worse than I do. Besides… the nightmares aren't as bad when you're there…"

Bolin can see Mako wrestling with himself, but that last comment wins him over; he never could refuse the younger when he said that. Instead, Mako sighs and stands.

"Fine," he mutters. He starts walking in the direction of their shared room without another word.

The earthbender chuckles quietly to himself before getting up and following.

Once the two of them are in their respective beds, it only takes a matter of minutes before Mako is dead to the world. Bolin grins, turning onto his back and putting his arms behind his head, closing his eyes.

The next day, Bolin comes home, unsuccessful in his search for work. He doesn't tell Mako, who is only there for a few minutes before he leaves for the power plant in a rush for his night shift.

Bolin is disheartened; he had so wanted to help, but apparently earthbenders weren't in high demand at the moment, even if you were a part of the famous Fire Ferrets.

Instead, he contents himself with a trip to Air Temple Island to visit a certain Water Tribe girl.

Two days later, Asami Sato comes into their lives.

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It actually didn't turn out the way I wanted, but I don't know what to do to fix it... Oh, well. Lots of brother feels. I love those two. I want more interaction between them so bad!

I hope that you enjoyed it!


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